


Illusion of permanence

by solrosan



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Roxy, Gen, Kingsman is an old boys' club, Male-Female Friendship, Roxy Is a Good Bro, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 15:02:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20641112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solrosan/pseuds/solrosan
Summary: Eggsy got a tattoo to honour his dad while he still thought he died in the marines. As a Kingsman agent, he's not allowed to keep it since it's a very clear identifying mark. Roxy thinks this is unfair and ridiculous.





	Illusion of permanence

**Author's Note:**

> This idea was born during one of many tattoo-related chats with [InsaneRedDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsaneRedDragon/pseuds/InsaneRedDragon).

The buzzing went under Eggsy’s skin as much as the needles and ink did. The pain he’d been mentally prepared for, but the buzzing made him want to squirm. He didn’t, he sat perfectly still, watching Lizzie work. She was about his mum’s age, perhaps even a bit older, with the names of her two kids tattooed on her hands. They had talked about it during his short consultation when he’d said the tattoo was for his dad.

It would be a remembrance poppy with the words “Lest we forget” written under it on the inside of his right bicep. A basic design and not more than five centimetres in total. Eggsy barely remembered his dad, just a few blurry fragments of a man carrying him on his shoulders and making coins come out of his ears or nose. He had a picture of his dad in uniform in his room, a small one, but the picture didn’t look like his memories.

With a tattoo, he figured, he could always touch up when it started to fade.

This had been Brandon’s idea. Brandon’s dad had died in Afghanistan when they were fifteen and Brandon had wanted to do this for ages. The more he’d talked about it, the more Eggsy had wanted it too. What really tipped the scale, though, was Dean coming into his life. Eggsy was not going to let that man erase everything that once had been good in his life. He would fight tooth and nail to not be drag into the world Dean came from and keeping the memory of his dad alive was a good place to start.

They had found a place close to where they lived that said they’d take £35 for a tattoo of that size. It was the cheapest they’d found, but still more than he had. It had taken little under a year for Eggsy to save up. One quid here, one quid there and he didn’t feel at all bad for pocketing some of the change when Dean sent him out to buy beer. He probably should since it was technically stealing, but…

Then when it was time to actually book the appointment, Brandon’s mum had objected. No son of hers was going to get hepatitis in an attempt to commemorate his dad. She had given them £40 each and driven them to a place in a different part of town that she’d said had got good reviews.

That money Eggsy _did_ feel bad taking, but he took them anyway. He swore he would pay her back though. 

“How’s it going, Eggsy?” Brandon called from the other side of the shop where he was getting his own tattoo. 

“Mm, fine,” Eggsy mumbled in response. 

“He’s doing great, you focus on you,” Lizzie called back as she wiped the site. She looked up at Eggsy, giving him a smile. “You are, you know.”

“Not the one doing anything.”

“You’re honouring your dad, that’s a pretty great something. And you’re polite and you sit still, that’s really all you need to do.” Lizzie winked at him. “Take it from a parent, that’s more than enough to make your dad proud.” 

Eggsy smiled tentatively, feeling exposed. Lizzie didn’t seem to notice, or at least she pretended she didn’t. Instead she went back to working on his arm. 

Eggsy put his head back down and closed his eyes. He really hoped his dad would have been proud of this, because his mum would go mental if she saw the tattoo.

* * *

Eggsy walked across the great lawn at the Kingsman mansion to find Roxy. They had been on their way out for a study break with their dogs when Merlin had asked to talk to him.

It had been a weird couple of weeks. Well, it had been a weird _year_, starting with him getting arrested for joyriding and ending with him wearing a nicely tailored, bulletproof suit among posh, upper class spies who treated him as an equal. It was still jarring to have people refer to him as Galahad, but he was humbled by the fact that they thought he’d be able to fill Harry’s shoes.

So the last few weeks were just the culmination of an insane series of events, really. Everything had happened so fast that he hadn’t had time to properly process everything yet, but he was getting there. 

”What did Merlin want?” Roxy asked when he found her sitting under a big oaktree out with her poodle next to her. 

”Nothing, just schedule my tattoo removal,” said Eggsy and sat down on the grass next to her. He realised that he had forgotten to pick up J.B. from the kennel.

”You have a tattoo?”

”Only for a few more weeks, but yeah.” He took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeve as much as he could, showing her most of the tattoo on the inside of his bicep. “Got it for my dad while I still thought he died in the army.”

One of the hardest things he’d learned during his time at Kingsman was the fact that his dad hadn’t died as a marine but as a Kingsman recruit. There were times when it felt as if all of his childhood was false somehow since everything he really knew about his dad had been a lie. Other times he felt closer to his dad than he ever had.

“Is that why you want it removed, because he was a Kingsman recruit when he died?” asked Roxy.

“Don’t want to, really,” he said and rolled down his sleeve again. “But Merlin said I had to get rid of it, so... Distinguishing marks and shit ain’t good to have in the field and all that.”

Roxy frowned. “How often does he think you’ll do a mission shirtless?”

Eggsy shrugged. 

“He shouldn’t force you to remove your tattoo if you don’t want to.”

“He’s got a point.”

“No.”

Eggsy frowned, confused, but Roxy was serious.

“When’s your first appointment?” she asked.

“Next Tuesday.”

Roxy drummed her fingers against her knee. After awhile she said, “Don’t keep that appointment.” 

“But--”

“You don’t want to remove the tattoo, so don’t keep the appointment.”

“Merlin said--”

“He has no right to ask that of you what you do with your body.”

“But--”

“Trust me, okay? Just this first one. Say Daisy’s ill and you need to stay home taking care of her or something.”

Eggsy thought it over. Going against Merlin’s orders and recommendations didn’t feel right. Lying to him felt even worse. There was something in Roxy’s eyes though that made him nod. That determination, he realised, was why she had become Lancelot and not him, and it was also why she would probably become Arthur one day.

“Good,” she said, smiling. “Then that’s settled.”

* * *

Four days after Eggsy’s missed appointment and three days before his next one, Roxy came to the tailor shop in what was probably her old school uniform skirt. Eggsy gave her a strange look.

“Whose fantasy did I just stumble into?” he asked, but regretted it immediately when she gave him a dark glare. He mumbled an apology.

“Come with me,” she said, and going by her tone Eggsy knew this wasn’t a suggestion. They went down to Merlin’s office and Eggsy’s heart sank. He had avoided Merlin -- quite successfully -- since he had missed the appointment. 

Roxy knocked and Merlin asked them to step in. He frowned at the sight of Roxy and looked her over the same way Eggsy had.

“Can’t recall sending you undercover, Lancelot,” he said. 

“You haven’t, and if you ever send me back to Wycombe, I will probably go AWL.”

Merlin smiled briefly. “Noted. What can I do for you, agents?”

“You can’t force Eggsy to have his tattoo removed,” said Roxy bluntly. “It’s not okay.”

Merlin’s eyes went to Eggsy before going back at Roxy. “I’m not forcing anyone to do anything, it’s just--”

“It’s just a condition for him staying a field agent.”

“Well…”

Very carefully, and without breaking eye contact with Merlin, Roxy pulled her skirt over her left thigh. There, previously hidden by the skirt, was a recently made tattoo. It was the size of a handball and still red under the black ink. It was ring of flowers, and in the middle of it, it said “My body, my rules.”

Both Eggsy and Merlin stared at her and Eggsy forgot all about his initial shock about being drag into whatever this was.

“My body, my rules,” Roxy said and forced Merlin to look up at her face again. She nodded in the direction of Eggsy and let her skirt fall. “His body, his rules.”

“Lancelot…”

“You’re not booking me for a session to remove it. Do you know how much it hurt to get it in the first place?”

Merlin sighed.

“Are you going to bench us both?”

“No, but I am going to ask both of you to leave.”

Roxy nodded and turned on the spot. Confused about what had just happened, Eggsy nodded once at Merlin and followed Roxy outside.

“You went and got a fucking tattoo just because… because...” he started but he had no idea where to end that sentence, because why on Earth had she done that?

Roxy smiled. “Yes.”

“That’s some crazy shit.”

“My body, my rules,” she said. “I can do whatever ‘crazy shit’ I want with it.”

“But you’ll lose your job!”

“If I do, then just as well.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to work for a company that doesn’t respect bodily autonomy,” she said, with the same conviction that made it clear that they would indeed all work for her one day. “My body. My rules. End of.”

Eggsy shook his head, smiling, because there was something really absurd about all of this.

He was also fairly sure this wasn’t the end of the discussion.

* * *

Eggsy was right. They were called to the Table the very next day and Roxy wasn’t quite as cocky as before. It was just the two of them, Merlin, and Arthur, and Eggsy could tell that Roxy held her head a little bit higher than usual to compensate for her nerves.

“Agents,” said Arthur, showing them their seats and sitting down himself. Eggsy and Roxy exchanged looks and pulled out their chairs. 

“Merlin came and talked to me yesterday and it appears we have a bit of a situation,” Arthur said when they were all seated. “Not having any form of body art -- including but not limited to tattoos -- isn’t a personal preferences or something decided on a whim. It’s in the Kingsman by-laws.”

Roxy had her hands folded on the table, her knuckles white but her expression neutral. Eggsy sat very straight, but he felt fairly calm because even though his tattoo was what had started this, he realised that it wasn’t his fight. He couldn’t believe Merlin had brought this to Arthur, though. Not like they had better things to do in the wake of V-day or anything.

“After some discussion, Merlin and I decided that this particular by-law should be removed,” Arthur continued. “It’s outdated and based on the assumption that the only people with tattoos are criminals and sailors -- or something equally scandalous, I’m sure. Whatever the old reasoning was, it’s not worth losing competent agents over.”

Roxy breathed out, her posture relaxing slightly. Eggsy’s mouth fall open. He quickly closed it again.

“The argument about not having distinguishing marks still stands though,” said Merlin. “I will book a few session for both of you with our make-up artist, because you need to be able to cover up the tattoos yourself when you’re in the field. Does that sound all right?”

Eggsy and Roxy both nodded.

“Good,” he said. He turned out Roxy. “In the future, Lancelot, just come and talk to us if you think we’re stuck in our ways. There’s no need for dramatic statements.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Roxy said, a smile spreading across her face. “Thank you. Both of you.”

Merlin gave her a smile and a nod. When Arthur then dismissed them, they were quick to leave.

“Well, shit,” said Roxy as soon as they were out of the room, a relieved giggle escaping her. “I thought I was so screwed.”

“Nah, you’re way too good for them to just kick you out,” said Eggsy, grinning.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah! And that was fucking aces what you did. I don’t--” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you did this. I… Thank you. Really.”

“You’re welcome. Seriously, though, Eggsy: your body, your rules. That goes for everything, not just boys keeping their hands off girls.”

Eggsy nodded. “Yeah.”

“Promise you remember that.”

“Promise,” he said, smiling. “I still can’t believe you did this, though. It’s completely mental.”

“I practically went to space my first day on the job and we saved the world. _That’s_ mental,” said Roxy, taking his arm and winking. “In comparison, getting a tattoo to make a point sounds perfectly reasonable to me.”

Eggsy just laughed. It really didn’t matter where on the Scale of Insanity this fell, because the result was the same: he wouldn’t have to remove the tattoo he had got for his dad and for that he would be forever grateful.

Depending on how hard it was to cover up, he might actually even add one for Harry now.

**Author's Note:**

> [Eggsy's tattoo looks something like this](https://flowertattooideas.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/8-Little-Poppy-Flower-On-Hand.jpeg) but is placed on his bicep. 
> 
> [Roxy's tattoo looks like this.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b6/0e/bd/b60ebdbe983416b8416beba2ef3e77f2.jpg)


End file.
